160 needy but bright primary school learners from all over the country are set to pursue their secondary education without any financial problems after the Kenya Education Fund (KEF) was awarded a five-year scholarship.
The scholarship covers four years of secondary education and one year of a college education.
The event to award the scholarships was held at Nazarene Church in Nairobi County where the pupils received their cheques from the Non-Governmental Organization (NGO).
The KEF Executive Director and co-founder Dominic Muasya said that the beneficiaries will also receive mentorship and life skills, productive health and preparation for transition to the careers of their choice.
According to him, the main aim of the organization is to ensure that needy students are in school. He also promised to sponsor even more learners if they get more funds from well-wishers.
Beneficiaries of the scholarship underwent an interview in July 2022 before they sat for their Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE). There were more than 3,000 applicants for the scholarship.
“Our students will do well and have had a high rate of transition from high school to university,” said Muasya to the media.
He revealed that in last year’s KCSE examinations, 99 per cent of their beneficiaries managed to transit to the next level due to their scholarship.
On her part, the KEF Chairperson Dr Grace Waiharo revealed that they are sponsoring around five hundred beneficiaries now in secondary schools.
She revealed that the NGO alumni also donated hundreds of thousands to the organization to support even more needy students.
One of the beneficiaries, Valentine Sentei attained 342 marks in her KCPE out of the possible 500 from Iltilal Primary School in Kajiado South.
Her father had died leaving behind seven children and she was hopeful that she could complete her secondary education with the help of the scholarship.
Stella Warui, a representative from Prudential Life Assurance Kenya, who is also a member of the KEF Boards of Directors said that they will be supporting 85 beneficiaries out of the 160 that joined the program this year.
Since its inception, KEF has sponsored upwards of four thousand students in secondary education.
The Chief Guest at the event was Director of Education Fredrick Kiiru said that the sponsorship had boosted the transition from primary to secondary.
He urged parents to give hope to their children who come from needy backgrounds.
KEF goodwill ambassador Mr Francis Munyao popularly known as MCA tricky and is a comedian called don the beneficiaries do their best in class.
He also urged well-wishers to join the organization to support needy students to access education.
MCA tricky revealed that he had a degree in Mechanical Engineering from Kenyatta University and that he had received a scholarship after dropping out of school and joining the dangerous street life.